I'm Sorry
by Firehawk
Summary: A man's life is changed as he watches the final moments of a young woman's life. Future fic R/J *Complete*


Author's note: Hello! I hope you all like my story. If you don't, too bad. LOL Anyway, this is my first GG's fic so maybe it sucks. Let me know. Good and bad reviews are always appreciated. (  
  
Summary: A man's life is changed as he watches the final moments of a young woman's life.  
  
Disclaimer: I only own Mike and Amy. Nothing else so don't sue me.  
  
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Title: I'm Sorry  
  
~ Why must conversations always come so late? Why do people always apologize to corpses? - David Brin ~  
  
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~ a New York hospital; 10pm ~  
  
Mike yawned as he slowly pushed a mop around on the floor. It had been a long day. Hospitals had to be one of the hardest places to keep clean. No matter how hard he worked, there was always some mess to clean up. He supposed he should be used to it by now. He'd been a janitor at the hospital for six years. Definitely not a job that impressed women.  
  
He scowled. He'd never had much luck with women. Here he was, 38 years old, and he'd never even come close to being married. And the one woman he loved "that way" drove him crazier than any other woman he'd ever met. Mike's scowl deepened. Amy was his best friend, but every time he came close to telling her how he really felt they seemed to find something to fight about.  
  
Like earlier that day. She was seeing this jerk, but when he'd tried to point it out to her she'd flipped. A huge argument had followed, ending when he had left her apartment to come to work. So he'd spent the last six hours taking his frustrations out on the hospital floor.  
  
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~ New York hospital; 11pm ~  
  
"One more hour," Mike muttered. Then he could go home and sleep. Maybe tomorrow he'd think about sorting things out with Amy. Maybe.  
  
He paused for a moment to stretch out his back. As he straightened he noticed a doctor escorting a young man - maybe 25 or 26 - to a room. The young man's face was lined with grief and his shoulders were slumped as he slowly entered the room. Mike wondered who was in the room. Who had caused that young man such pain?  
  
Ten minutes later Mike paused outside the room, then glanced inside. The young man who had entered earlier was sitting in a chair, silently holding the hand of whoever was in the bed. His thumb was slowly caressing the back of the hand he was holding. The young mans eyes were oblivious to everything but the face of the patient in front of him.  
  
Mike moved his attention to the patient lying in the hospital bed. It was a young woman, probably around the same age as the man beside her. Her brown hair was spread around her face. Her eyes were closed, and Mike couldn't tell if she was unconscious or just asleep. A large bandage was wrapped around her forehead. Mike thought she would be beautiful if it wasn't for the ugly bruises and gashes that covered her face and arms.  
  
Mike stood silently, watching the two. He wondered who the woman was? Were the young man and woman simply friends or was there something more between them? As he stood watching the pair he heard the young man speak softly.  
  
"How could this happen? Why couldn't you stop your car in time? You're a good driver, Rory! Was it just because the roads were slippery? Or maybe because you didn't see the car in time? It had to be something like that because if it wasn't." The young man paused, then spoke again in a voice riddled with guilt. "If it wasn't then it was my fault. I shouldn't have let you leave. You were so angry you shouldn't have been driving."  
  
"I'm sorry I pushed you away, Rory. I'm sorry that I've always pushed you away, even when we were younger. When you broke up with Dean I wanted to go out with you. I wanted to let myself love you and let you love me. But I couldn't. I was scared it wouldn't work, that we would break up, and I would totally lose you."  
  
"Now look at us. Twenty-six years old, both with successful writing careers and.And I still won't let anything happen between us. We've been best friends for a long time. You've always been there for me, ever since we met. And I'm still letting myself be ruled by fear."  
  
"I'm scared to get close to anyone, because every time I do they leave me. Everyone I care about leaves me. My dad left me; Liz shipped me off to Luke's. You're the one person who's never given up on me. The one person who's put up with my crap for longer than a year or two."  
  
Mike watched as the young man paused again. His heart was breaking for the two young souls in that hospital room. It was sad that two people who cared so much for each other couldn't get it together. The young man in the room shifted in his chair, then continued his one sided conversation.  
  
"I really messed it up this time though. When you came over tonight and said you wanted to know once and for all if there would ever be anything more between us.Rory, I wanted to say yes. I always want to say yes. But once again I didn't and I hurt you again. And now look at you. Lying in this tiny room in a coma."  
  
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry for being so stupid all these years. You're the only person I've ever wanted to be with. Just you, Rory. I love you!" The young man's voice broke as he choked back sobs. "So you can wake up now, Rory. You can wake up and we can be together. You have to wake up. I couldn't imagine my life without you. I couldn't imagine not being able to see you or talk to you. I couldn't imagine not listening you tell me about your work or Lane or Lorelai. You're not allowed to leave me. You hear me?!"  
  
As those words left the young man's mouth a machine started to beep loudly. Mike watched as a look of horror swept over the young man's face. Then Mike was pushed out of the way as doctors and nurses rushed into the room. The young man was pulled away from Rory as the doctors and nurses worked urgently to keep her with them. Finally, one of the doctors shook his head. He turned to the young man and looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Mariano. We did all we could."  
  
Mike watched the colour leave the young man's face. He watched as Mr. Mariano moved to the bed and dropped to his knees beside it. Both his hands reached for one of Rory's and he slowly brought it to his lips. Mike heard him whisper, "I love you. I'm so sorry." Then Mr. Mariano's shoulders began to shake and his sobs could be heard throughout the room.  
  
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~ an apartment in New York; 12:24am ~  
  
Mike knocked on the apartment door, then stood back, waiting for it to be opened. When Amy answered he moved forward quickly before she could close the door on him.  
  
"I'm sorry about earlier, Amy. Can we talk? I want to tell you about something I saw earlier at work." 


End file.
